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������’s Wick Poetry Center welcomes spoken-word poet Joshua Bennett, performing Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ritchie Hall Community Theatre. The event, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, is free and open to the public.

Bennett is a performance poet from Yonkers, N.Y., and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He has recited his original work at venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, the NAACP Image Awards and President Barack Obama’s White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word. Bennett also was featured on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices, as well as ad campaigns for Reebok and Ralph Lauren’s Rugby Poets Club. Bennett is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in the English department at Princeton University, where he focuses primarily on African-American nature writing.

“Joshua Bennett is a wonderful poet and scholar, and I’m thrilled that he has agreed to perform at Kent State,” says Jessica Jewell, program manager for the Wick Poetry Center. “I think that those who attend his reading will be blown away by his captivating and heartfelt performance.”

Bennett also will perform for high school students at John R. Buchtel Community Learning Center of Akron Public Schools. All students attending the event will receive a postcard with a poem written by him.

“I’m even more excited that he will speak to outreach students in Buchtel High School as part of our ongoing work with the Akron Impact Network and School Improvement Grant schools,” Jewell says.

Bennett will perform, discuss his poetry and answer questions for more than 135 Buchtel students.

“With generous funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, we are excited for the high school students at Buchtel who will be able to find inspiration in Joshua Bennett’s performance and lecture,” says Nicole Robinson, outreach manager for the Wick Poetry Center.

For more information about the Wick Poetry Center’s events, visit www.kent.edu/wick/readingseries.